VICTORIES & GOOD NEWS ROUNDUP

Feb 18, 2018

These images are among our favorites. A group of Mainers spent hours on Jan. 29, 2017 digging 25-foot-high “RESIST” into Sand Beach in Acadia (left), a birthday gift for MDI resident Gary Allen. A year later, Gary and his friends returned to tell the world that they are “STILL RESISTING” (right). So are we, Gary. So are we.

We work hard and we have MUCH to celebrate. So every month or so, we add to this ever-growing list of victories. Take a scroll down the page and see what you and your fellow citizen activists have done. Take a bow. And then get back to work so we have more good news to add to this list.

Jan. 1 – Feb. 17, 2018

Lots of good news to report from 2018 so far! We begin our list with items that Suit Up Maine has featured in its calls to action.

Maine is in the process ofdoubling its workforce of public health nurses, hiring more than 50 new nurses, as a result of a new law passed over the summer to address the critical shortage, especially in rural areas. Lobbying for the passage of this law, which occurred over the governor’s veto, was one of ourcalls to action last summer.

Federal judges in San Francisco and New York haveissued injunctions barring DJT from ending DACA on March 5 as he had announced, pending consideration of these two cases on the merits. The government must continue processing and renewing DACA applications under the same terms that existed before DJT declared the program ended. Through the office of Maine Attorney General Janet Mills, Maine signed on to one of these cases and filed an amicus brief in the other. Though good news, this is not a long-term solution, so keep calling your congressional representatives! See ourC2A.

At the request of a number of Democrats in Congress, FCC chairman Ajit Pai is beinginvestigated by the FCC’s inspector general for some rule and policy changes he made that benefited the pro-DJT Sinclair media company in its efforts to acquire a large number of local media stations. Sinclair requires its stations to run pro-DJT propaganda, and this merger has been decried by many concerned with media consolidation and its harm on democracies. See ourC2A.

A second appellate courtruled against Muslim ban 3.0 – this one declaring it to be unconstitutional. See ourC2A.

In New York City, 120K teamsters are preparing to be a “sanctuary union” to protect their fellow workers from ICE.

Afederal judge ordered Governor LePage to release $3 million in job training funds that were supposed to go to Coastal Counties, one of the state’s regional workforce development boards. This is a temporary injunction and might be appealed, but for now it is a good sign. It will help many people find jobs.

Anotherfederal judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development could not “delay” implementation of an Obama-era policy that would allow low-income people greater access to affluent neighborhoods. Hundreds of thousands of people will be able to move to better areas.

Anew law went into effect in Iceland requiring companies and government agencies employing more than 25 people to prove that they are not paying men more than women.

At least 260 people with science backgroundsare running for federal, state, and local office in 2018, a record number in modern U.S. history.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commissiondenied a request by Constitution Pipeline to overturn a ruling by New York State denying the company a permit to build a 124-mile natural gas pipeline because it had not done an adequate study to meet the Clean Air Act provisions. Thank you,Earthjustice, for your legal advocacy on this case.

Democratsflipped a seat in the Missouri state house in a deep red district that DJT won handily.

In Elkhart County, Indiana, which is 90% white and voted 2-1 for DJT, pro-immigrant groups allied with RV company executives and others toblock construction of a proposed private prison run by ICE.

Washington ischanging its drivers licenses to eliminate the driver’s place of birth, in order to complicate ICE’s efforts to round up immigrants.

TheNatural Resources Defense Council and a coalition of states led by New York and Californiawon a lawsuit forcing the Department of Energy to begin using national energy efficiency standards that it was refusing to implement. The standards apply to portable window air conditioners and some other items.

The DJT administrationdecided not to fight the Jan. 1 deadline for accepting trans people into the military, and the military is now accepting trans recruits.

Rape survivors in Maryland can nowask a court to terminate the rapist’s parental rights, and the bar of proof for proving rape for this purpose is lower than that for a criminal prosecution.

A three-judge panelhas ruled that North Carolina’s gerrymandered voting districts violate the Constitution. This will likely go to the Supreme Court, but is a win for voting rights at this stage.

Pennsylvania’s Supreme Courtruled that the state’s congressional map is gerrymandered to the extent that it violates the state constitution and ordered new maps to be drawn up in time for the 2018 midterms. The GOP appealed this to the Supreme Court, whichrejected the request to overturn it.

Efforts by Rick Perry’s Department of Energy to establish policies that would favor coal production and hurt green energy wereshut down by a federal commission – one with most members appointed by DJT, no less.

Maine’s Supreme Courtruled that the state can’t deny food benefits to legal asylum seekers who have been approved to work here but have not yet found work. The decision will affect about 150 asylum seekers.

The Attorney General of Washington issuing Motel 6 for violating state law by providing personal information on guests to ICE.

In a class action suit, a federalcourt ruled that the Los Angeles county sheriff violated people’s civil rights (regarding arbitrary arrest) by detaining them after they were eligible for release in order to comply with an immigration detainer from ICE. The county ended the practice in 2014, but those detained between 2010 and 2014 can now sue, and the ruling should impact other places where law enforcement still works with ICE around these detainers.

Democrat Patty Schachtnerwon a seat in Wisconsin’s Senate in a special election in a rural district that had voted for DJT by 17 points, even though the GOP dramatically outspent her in an effort to keep the seat.

Democrat Margaret Goodflipped a state legislative seat outside Tampa, Florida. Democratic women as well as Republicans and independents showed up to support her against a well-known opponent.

In California, Oakland’scity council voted 8-0 that the city would end all cooperation with ICE except in the case of public emergencies. The councilwoman who introduced the measure noted that ICE was targeting people based on their national origin, harassing people, and undermining justice.

Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell aretrouncing Fox and Hannity in viewership as increasing numbers of Americans demonstrate that they prefer more in-depth and less state-run news. We salute our free press and good journalists everywhere!

Energy experts expect an“energy storage revolution” in 2018. Advances in batteries for storing wind and solar energy could be a death knell for the fossil fuel industry, as greener becomes cheaper.

Robert Mueller’s investigation produced13 indictments of Russian individuals and organizations, making ithard for any sane person to discount the validity of this investigation and more awkward for DJ to take action to stop the investigation, laying the groundwork for future charges, andturning up the heat on DJ over why he is doing nothing to answer this attack on our nation.

Our hearty thanks to all these persisters for doing their part to protect the vulnerable, our rights, our planet, and our democracy. You may have noticed how many of these good news items have related to court victories. So far, the courts are doing their job as a check and balance, but some of DJ’s nominees to lifetime judgeships could jeopardize that. Follow our tracking of these nominations and contact your senators! Let’s protect the courts so we can keep adding victories to this list.

2017: The Year in Pictures

Nov. 4-Dec. 31, 2017

Our wins at the polls in November (and a big one in December) deserve special attention, sothey have their page. Read on for other good news!

Despite DJT-GOP efforts to sabotage health care enrollments, almost 9 million Americans signed up during the shortened enrollment period, defying all expectations. Good job getting the word out, everyone! See our call to action (C2A) here.

The November-December elections answered with a BOOM(!) all that 2017 hand-wringing about disarray among Democrats, Bannon’s mythical powers to choose leaders, and whether the Women’s March would create lasting momentum. Winners included 33 out of 55 EMILY’s List candidates, 13 out of 14 Sister District candidates , and152 Emerge graduates (9 in Maine). Across the country, the newly elected include not just strong progressives and so many women, but a heart-warming number of immigrants, people of color, and LBGTQ people. See our “Nation on Notice” special elections edition of the Victories and Good News list.

Mainemade national headlines as the first state to expand Medicaid by referendum, a rebuke to Governor LePage, who had vetoed similar legislation five times. LePage is doing everything he can to put up obstacles to the implementation of the voters’ will, but helacks the authority to override a referendum, so the voters will prevail. Seeour C2A on this.

Eleven cities and counties will beoffering free legal counsel to those facing deportation, as part of the Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) Cities Network, a program in conjunction with the Vera Institute of Justice.

The Sierra Club lists50 ways in which clean energy gained momentum in 2017. Yes, 50!

Gavin Clarkson, a DJT appointee to a position overseeing loan administration in the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs that did not require Senate confirmation, hasresigned following coverage byProPublica of a loan he previously obtained under a program he now administers. Even internal government reports had flagged the loan as not issued properly, and the borrowers later defaulted.

A DC jury rejected the attempt by Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department to criminalize dissent by returning “not guilty” verdicts on all counts for the first 6 defendants charged with destruction and violence done by other protesters at the Inauguration Day protests last year.

Yet another federal judge barred the Department of Justice from withholding funding to a city due to its sanctuary status,this time in Philadelphia.

… And then a judge in San Franciscopermanently blocked DJT from denying funding to these cities, saying that the administration could not put additional restrictions on money Congress allocated.

The head of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships for the Department of Homeland Securityresigned within hours of a CNN report on hostile comments he had made about the black and Muslim communities. Once again, go free press!

Maine Attorney General Janet Millsjoined a lawsuit against the federal government over its failure to meet deadlines established in the Clean Air Act and and joined a coalition urging Congress to reject cuts in EPA funding.

Arizona Republicans who passed a law banning Mexican-American studies in Tucson’s majority-Latino schools lost a 7-year legal battle when afederal judge ruled that the law served no pedagogical purpose and was unconstitutional.

Due to the efforts of Maine’s Secretary of State, Matt Dunlap, a federal judgeissued an injunction directing DJT’s bogus “voter fraud” commission to hand over documents and correspondence that had been kept hidden from Dunlap and other Democratic commission members. Dunlap also has a lawsuit underway related to the commission’s activities.

As part of a case argued by the ACLU on behalf of two protesters who had been pepper-sprayed, a U.S. district judgestrongly rebuked the St. Louis Police Department for the tactics it used against protesters following the Sept. 15th acquittal of former police officer Jason Stockley. She said the police are not allowed to declare an “unlawful assembly” if there is no threat of imminent violence, and they may not punish people for exercising their constitutional rights of assembly and free speech.

The Federal Election Commission announced that it iswriting new rules to require disclosure of who is paying for the political ads that appear on social media.

In Virginia, a state panel approved a pipeline through pristine lands, but unexpectedlydelayed its operation pending the results of some environmental studies. Surprised opponents of the pipeline are considering this a partial victory.

Anti-feminist Penny Young Nancewithdrew from consideration for nomination to be Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues after press coverage on her views and the ensuing public pressure.

In the absence of US leadership at the national level, foreign leaders are reaching out to our states and major cities tocollaborate on issues such as environment, trade, and human rights, and are finding eager partners. States and cities are expanding their staffs to include people dedicated to international efforts, and those staffs include former foreign service professionals.

A district judge in Winona County, Minnesotaruled that the county was operating within its authority when county leaders banned frac sand mining last year, dismissing the claims of the mining company that challenged the ban.

Southern Poverty Law Centersecured an agreement from the state of Mississippi to reinstate licenses of over 100,000 drivers whose licenses were suspended when they could not pay a traffic ticket, and to stop suspending licenses for failure to pay fines. Low-income people will no longer face a choice between paying a fine and paying for food, and they can get to work without risking further fines.

The Navajo Nation Councilvoted down proposed legislation to create an aerial tram and hotel inside the Grand Canyon – even though the Nation would have gained 8% of any money tourists would have spent there and badly needs both the money and the jobs it would have created.

President Emmanuel Macronannounced that France will award about $70 million to 50 U.S. scientists to conduct their climate-related research in France for the duration of DJT’s presidency. Through a program called “Make the Planet Great Again,” the grant will cover costs of relocation to France as well as their work-related expenses. At least their work will continue.

Greenpeace and Thai Union, the parent company of Chicken of the Sea tuna and the world’s largest tuna company, reached anagreement in which Thai Union committed to more sustainable fishing practices and the protection of workers’ rights.

A second federal judgeruled against DJT’s ban on trans people serving in the military, and went farther than the first judge did by also ruling that the administration can’t deny coverage for sex change surgeries for trans service members.

The Supreme Courtdeclined to hear two cases related to gun regulation, thereby letting stand the Maryland court rulings allowing bans on a range of semiautomatic weapons and large-capacity magazines, including those used in the recent mass shootings in Las Vegas and the Texas church.

German pilotsgrounded over 200 flights in 2017, refusing to participate in the deportation of asylum seekers back to countries where they would be in danger.

Even though DJT decided not to send a delegation to this year’s UN climate summit, leaders from US state and local governments, the private sector, and academia traveled to Bonn, Germany torepresent the United States. The coalitionWe Are Still In set up a pavilion larger than any previously sponsored by the US government and actively participated in the summit on our behalf.

Concerned citizens and environmental groupsstopped a plan to transport crude oil by rail through California’s San Joaquin Valley.

Three dangerous and unqualified DJT nominations to lifetime appointments on the federal bench collapsed under increasing scrutiny from senators and growing concern from the public. And groups such as Alliance for Justice are working to build pressure and awareness about judicial nominees. Watch our weekly Calls to Action in the new year!

Congress is putting Sinclair on the hot seat about its proposed merger with Tribune and its “must-run” propaganda segments in local media markets. After a hearing on Hill, Sinclair has until Nov. 10 to respond to a series of questions. Want more info? See here.

Oct. 30, 2017 (henceforth to be called Mueller Monday?), special prosecutor Robert Mueller issued a powerful opening salvo in the Russia investigation by charging Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, and George Papadopolous (whose charges are reduced due to a plea deal). See our C2A about Mueller.

Susan Collins has expressed reservations about certain tax cuts to the wealthy. Since the tax scam definitely includes them, let’s be sure to remind her that she said that. Here is our C2A.

Maine’s Attorney General Janet Mills has joined a lawsuit to block the termination of DACA. Do your part to help the Dreamers by taking the actions in our C2A.

Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria of the Air Force Academy reminded us all what real leaders sound like after racist messages were found in the Air Force prep school. Watch his inspiring speech (here) if you haven’t yet.

In 2016, the third full year of most expansions under the Affordable Care Act, the percentage of Americans without health insurance fell to a historic low.

A federal judge dismissed a case by Josh Doggrell, an Alabama police officer who had been exposed as a member of a white supremacist group in an investigation by Southern Poverty Law Center. Doggrell alleged that he was fired in violation of his first amendment rights and his religious freedom, but the judge stated that he had been fired because he violated police department policy.

September advertising revenue at Fox dropped a whopping 17% compared to last year, led by losses sustained by Hannity.

Scientists are rejoicing at the news that Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) will be retiring next year. As chair of the House’s Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Smith has been staunchly anti-science and has fought against many proposals to address climate change.

TransCanada cancelled its plans for the Energy East tar sands pipeline, which would have been the largest tar sands pipeline project in the world.

With funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, New York University School of Law is starting a new center to help attorneys general fight environmental protections rollbacks.

The ACLU secured a settlement for torture survivors Suleiman Abdullah Salim, Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, and the estate of the late Gul Rahman (who died), who suffered at the hands of CIA-hired psychologists. This is a tremendous victory because it ends a streak of impunity for torture. Courts have been reluctant even to permit such cases to go forward due to “national security concerns.”

After a public backlash, Georgia is ending its practice of mailing registered voters who moved within a county a notice that they must reconfirm their registration in 30 days or be kicked off the voter rolls.

DJT recently lamented that he can’t sic the Department of Justice on people he doesn’t like. This means that, at least so far, the men and women working in federal law enforcement are not bowing to his authoritarian impulses and he is being constrained. Keep it up, federal workers!

In the 2017 legislative year, more than a dozen states strengthened their revenue streams by rejecting tax cuts or increasing taxes somewhere, thereby protecting their ability to fund education, environmental initiatives, and important social services.

The judge denied the request of Greg Gianforte, the Montana congressman who assaulted a reporter covering a campaign event, to avoid being formally booked. So he was photographed and fingerprinted like any other person charged with assault.

Marcus Lemonis, the CEO of Camping World, a major sponsor of NASCAR, said that people who support what happened at Charlottesville should stop shopping at his company.

Following press coverage by ProPublica, the New York Times, and the Baltimore Sun, Maryland’s Attorney General is investigating the management practices at a number of rental housing complexes owned by Jared Kushner. Way to go, free press!

Coal executives are chafing at unmet promises from DJT to issue an emergency order relieving them from environmental regulations. The Energy Department argued that it was unnecessary, and DJT actually agreed.

A new tidal power station between mainland Scotland and the Orkney Islands broke world records for electricity generation. Engineers anticipate that the tidal power could provide about half of Scotland’s electricity.

The House voted to prohibit civil asset forfeiture, the practice (ended by Obama but enthusiastically restored by Jeff Sessions) by which law enforcement can seize money or property from people accused but not convicted of a crime. The bill was sent to the Senate in September.

The chocolate company Mars has pledged to spend $1 billion in the next few years to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and support sustainable farming.

A federal judge in San Antonio blocked Texas from enforcing its S.B. 4 law and questioned its constitutionality. This is one of the toughest anti-immigration laws in the country. The ban is temporary while the case proceeds, but is considered a major blow. Big thanks to ACLU and other human rights groups for their work!

With the help of an investment from the Dutch company Maas Capital, over the next five years the U.K. will install solar panels on 800,000 low-income homes for free.

By overwhelming margins, Congress passed a law in August imposing new sanctions against Russia, directed at its energy and defense sectors, and limiting DJT’s ability to ease them without congressional approval. DJT was basically forced to sign the law, but then tried to not enforce it, but Congress pushed back and made him follow this law. They will be implemented in January.

A federal appeals court ruled that the Federal Environmental Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) failed to conduct an adequate study of greenhouse gas emissions from the Sabal Trail Pipeline, which runs through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, and directed the commission to do a new review.

Minnesota’s Commerce Department dealt a setback to the construction of an oil pipeline through northern Minnesota, saying it was not needed. Final decision by the state’s Public Utilities Commission due in the spring.

About nine months after the historic Women’s March, organizers brought some 4000 people together in Chicago to continue the momentum and plot next moves.

JULY 23-Aug. 12

In November, people were predicting that the Affordable Care Act would be gone by the end of January. Butmany Mainers who called, rallied, visited offices, and staged die-ins watched C-SPAN on the edge of their seats as Trumpcare 4.0 (or was it 5.0?) was defeated in a dramatic midnight vote in the Senate. Angus King and Susan Collins both helped to defeat it. Keep persisting, everyone! It works!

Undaunted by intimidation and attempts to undermine it, special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is proceeding. Recent developments known to the public concern theinvestigation into former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Eight senators arerequesting an investigation by the deputy inspector general of the Department of the Interior into the possible reassignment of around 50 scientists to non-science work after Mainer and whistle blower Joel Clements raised concern about his reassignment.

Scotland’s Environmental Protection Agency and the conservation organization Scottish Natural Heritage will beobjecting to the expansion of Trump’s golf course in Aberdeen. The courses are among his most prized properties, and if successful, this effort would deal a serious blow to Trump and his expansion plans.

A judge in Massachusettsruled that a law requiring voter registration 20 days in advance of an election is unconstitutional.

Simone Askewhas been named First Captain of the cadets at West Point, the highest honor and leadership position at the institution. She will be the first black woman to hold it.

The Supreme Court in Massachusetts ruled that court deputies arelegally prohibited from complying with detainer orders from ICE. Detainers are requests from ICE that a state or local agency hold someone who is in their custody an additional two days to allow for their transport to a deportation center or the initiation of deportation proceedings.

As part of its plan to eliminate tailpipe emissions by 2030, Los Angelesannounced the purchase of 95 electric buses for its transportation system.

The Minnesota Department of Educationapproved the dissemination of a transgender toolkit for use in schools to reduce bullying and help create a supportive environment for all students.

In response to public comments, New Mexico’s campaign finance regulators areinstituting rules requiring more detailed financial disclosures from nonprofits seeking to influence elections.

Former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio wasconvicted of criminal contempt of court for defying a court order to stop rounding up immigrants and could face jail time. Arpaio, who had been a galvanizing force behind racist policies for years, wasfinally brought down by community organizers who persisted.

Over a dozen scientistshave announced that they will be running for Congress. So far.

After North Carolina’s General Assembly tried to delay the deadline for submitting new voting districts that did not use racial gerrymandering, an unimpressed three-judge panelordered them to produce the new districts by September 1.

For the fourteenth time since November, a Democratic candidatewon a special election,this time in rural Iowa in a district that went heavily for Trump. And in two races in Missouri, Democrats closed the gap by outperforming Clinton’s numbers 17% and 19%, even though they didn’t win. But gains like that, if they continue, would flip many districts in the country.

The federal appellate court in D.C.ordered the EPA to enforce a rule aimed at lowering methane released from the production of oil and gas. Methane is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, and this rule was one of Obama’s most important environmental achievements. Pruitt had announced a “delay” in enforcement.

Environmental activists havestarted a global initiative to plant a forest to offset the harm of the White House occupant’s climate policy. The forest is not in a single location; people plant trees wherever they are and send in a record of it. So far, 75,000 trees have been pledged.

Fifteen attorneys general, including Maine’sJanet Mills, announced that they would besuing the EPA over Scott Pruitt’s decision to “delay” the implementation of regulations to limit ozone-depleting chemicals in the air. One day after this announcement,Pruitt announced that he would end the delay.

PayPal and other funding platforms have angered hate groups in this country and abroad because they have beenclosing the accounts of individuals and groups that promote hate.

Several power companies recently announced a collaborative plan tobuild the largest wind farm in the United States. With 800 turbines, it will be operational in 2020 and will provide power in Oklahoma and parts of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

California’s Labor Commissioner has directed state workers tobar ICE agents from entering any state labor offices (where people go to make complaints about abuses by employers, for example).

Emily’s List isexpanding its facilities and staff due to the 16,000 women who’ve inquired about running for office in the past few months. In the previous two year period, the group had 920 inquiries.

Grey wolves in the western Great Lakes area will retain federal endangered species protection, after acourt ruled that they had been inappropriately dropped from that list.

JULY 7-22, 2017

In Maine

Thanks to all who have rallied, called, written letters to the editor, and visited offices, Trumpcare is on life support — although it is not dead yet. Angus King has been an early, consistent, and vocal advocate for keeping and strengthening health insurance availability. Susan Collins was one of the Republican senators whoannounced that she would vote No on the motion to proceed. She has also stated that she has been “besieged” by pleas from Mainers to protect their coverage, and that she wants to work with Democratic colleagues to improve the current system. Thank you to both senators. Senator Collins, stay firm!

Constituents’ phone calls, testimony, and messages left for Maine legislators helped to prevent proposed cuts in many programs (such as food assistance, Head Start, and programs to help immigrants and asylum seekers) and even strengthen some important anti-poverty programs. You can read about themhere.

Brown University alums Yeshimabeit Milner and Lucas Mason-Brown have createdData for Black Lives (D4BL), an organization that “brings together activists, organizers, and mathematicians committed to the mission of using data science to create concrete and measurable change in the lives of black people.” Their first conference will take place at MIT in October.

In March, for the first time ever, wind and solar provided10% of the energy consumed in the United States. Worldwide, over half of new power sources are renewable ones. See our call to action on options for switching to renewables, including options for renters and apartment-dwellers,here.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals (Philadelphia)ruled that people have a right to videotape on-duty police officers in public, joining several other appellate courts that have made similar rulings across the country.

Democratsgained two seats in the Oklahoma legislature in special elections in usually solidly Republican districts in a deep red state.

On behalf of two Democratic donors and one DNC staff member,United to Protect Democracy hasfiled suit in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia against the Trump campaign and Roger Stone for violation of the privacy laws when they conspired to release the plaintiffs’ personal information that had been hacked during the campaign. You can read the court documenthere. If the case moves forward, it will establish another fact-finding authority (this court) around the Trump-Russia entanglements.

The Houston Police Department announced that it willstop using a $2 chemical field test of dubious accuracy that has produced hundreds of wrongful convictions. After the New York Times andProPublica did a story on this last July, the district attorney required that any positive field test be confirmed in a lab. Way to go, free press!

Despite the administration’s best efforts to convince the public otherwise, more Americans than everbelieve that climate change is real and serious, and the numbers are trending up.

The Houseinserted an amendment into the 2018 defense spending bill saying that climate change is a direct threat to national security and directing officials to identify facilities that will be most affected. This was partly due to the efforts of a new, bipartisan (24 from each party)Climate Solutions Caucus, which hopes to provide a counter to the conservative anti-climate change votes.

Rhode Islandpassed a law that certain forms of academic work are not subject to public information requests. These include preliminary drafts, working papers, and notes. The law is to help protect researchers from intimidation by special interest groups and is expected to be especially valuable for scientists working on climate change.

Ajudge has ordered Trump to release the names of all visitors to Mar-a-Lago through March 8. This order came after the Secret Service failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request and, it was the result of a lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibiity and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the National Security Archive, and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. We salute all these “helpers.”

Joel Clement, a scientist raised in Falmouth, hasfiled a whistle blower complaint with the Office of Special Counsel after he was reassigned from his job a Director of a Department of the Interior office after he spoke out about the effects of climate change in Alaska. He is hoping that his example will inspire others in similar situations.

Technological improvements and cost decreases in batteries for household power storage have been so rapid thatexperts predict that between 2020 and 2030, it will become financially feasible for large segments of the American public to move entirely off the grid and into renewables.

In Virginia,over a thousand protesters showed up to protest a gathering of about 30 KKK members who objected to the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee.

The United States Conference of Mayors hasstepped up to fight climate change, joining several states and multiple businesses and universities, in the current absence of official national leadership.

Thanks to the efforts of the Black Student Task Force at the University of Oregon, a campus residence hall formerly named for a KKK leader will berenamed to honor the first black graduate of the school’s architecture program, now an elderly resident of Portland.

The Seattle Storm, a women’s basketball team, became the first pro sports team to support Planned Parenthood,raising $42,000 from ticket sales at a recent event.

Rhode Island became the tenth state, along with the District of Columbia, toban gay “conversion therapy” for minors.

The administration’s bogus voter fraud commission has been hit withseven lawsuits, not including separate challenges in several states.

Hundreds turned out in scorching heat to protest the NRA’s refusal to defend black gun owners by marching eighteen miles from the NRA headquarters in Virginia to the Department of Justice in D.C.

The Supreme Courtbacked a lower court ruling expanding the list of relatives that count as “close relatives” for the purposes of receiving visas to visit family in this country. Welcome back, grandparents!

Bay Resistance membersshowed up at the home of a CEO who had expressed interest in bidding for a contract on the border wall and convinced her to sign a pledge not to participate in building the wall.

Australian researchers found thatadding a sprinkle of seaweed to cows’ diets reduced their methane production by 99%. Livestock animals produce about 14.5% of the climate-change-inducing methane gas, more than all car and plane traffic in the world. Cows produce about 65% of the methane generated by livestock.

Ksenija Pavlovic, a former political science teaching fellow at Yale and founder of news sitePavlovic Today, became the first reporter todefy White House restrictions by live-streaming the audio from a press briefing.

A judge ordered the state of Kentucky topay $224,000 in legal fees to two gay couples who sued for a marriage license after county clerk Kim Davis refused to issue them one in 2015.

JUNE 23-JULY 6, 2017

Members of Suit Up Indivisible Action Network, several local Indivisible groups, Mainers for Accountable Leadership, health care associations, hospitals, and others have made it their summer project to help Susan Collins see the need for opposing the Senate health care repeal bill. And she has and has so far remained firm in heropposition to it. Kudos to all. Stay firm, Senator Collins!

The status of the ranked choice voting approved by voters in November is a bit complicated. A bill (LD 1624) to amend the law to remove the potential problems with the state Constitution indicated by the advisory opinion from the state Supreme Court failed, but so did a rival bill to repeal the law completely (LD 1425). So the entire law will now go into effect, with its potential pitfalls. In general, we think this is a win for the voters, since it will at least move ranked choice voting forward. Also, there is no constitutional barrier at all to some elections covered in the law.

Southern Poverty Law Center has launched amajor initiative to train and coordinate lawyers in the Southeast to do pro-bono work representing immigrants facing deportation. Immigrants often can not afford an attorney, but they are ten times more like to win their appeals with legal representation than without it.

Baton Rouge mayorSharon Weston Broome, the first African American woman to hold that office, is instituting implicit bias training for the police department.

The administration’s proposal to cut the State Department budget is meeting fierce bipartisanopposition in Congress.

The Supreme Courtdeclined to review a case in which the circuit court had ruled that California’s law allowing local sheriffs to restrict concealed-weapons permits to those could demonstrate a clear need self defense outside the home does not violate the second amendment. So these restrictions on concealed-weapons permits will remain in place.

House Democrats arecreating a task force to study election security and especially how to lock Russia out of interfering in our elections in 2018. They plan to turn the study results into legislation.

The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled that the EPA acted improperly by delaying implementation of a regulation to limit methane gas release from oil and natural gas drilling, sothe rule takes effect immediately and the EPA must enforce it. This is the court that normally hears challenges to an administration’s implementation decisions. The present administration has tried to use this tactic of delaying a rule for other issues, too, many of them environmental. So this decision may suggest future victorious challenges to such attempts.

In Ohio, Governor John Kasich vetoed a budget measure that would have frozen Medicaid expansion in the state, and the legislaturefailed to garner enough votes for an override. Indivisible groups and others had pressured the legislature to drive down support for this measure. Good job, Ohio Indivisiblers!

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that undocumented immigrant children detained by federal authoritiesare entitled to a hearing to determine whether they should remain in detention, in accord with a 1997 settlement that the Justice Department (unsuccessfully) argued had since been abrogated.

At least 44 states, including many deep red ones, haverefused to hand over to the voter fraud commission either all voter data or data that is not publicly available.

In Texas, Republican House Speaker Joe Straussrefused to put a bathroom bill supported by the Senate and the governor before the House, expressing frustration that the Republican Party has become increasingly influenced by Christian ideologues and saying that he did not want the suicide of even one Texan on his hands.

In Florida, where unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman in 2012, ajudge declared an NRA-backed revision of the 2005 “stand your ground” law unconstitutional. The revision, signed into law in June, would have required prosecutors to show “clear and convincing evidence” that a shooter was not acting in self-defense.

There arefour lawsuits underway that could force the White House occupant to release his taxes.

JUNE 12-23, 2017

First the good news related to our C2A (call to action) items and Maine efforts. Our C2A list is produced weekly, usually on Mondays. View ithere.

LD 1237, to require insurance companies in Maine to cover up to 12 months of birth control at once, became law without the governor’s signature. See our C2Ahere.

LD 366, which would have made law enforcement personnel responsible for enforcing Immigration Control and Enforcement policies, failed in both houses. See our C2Ahere.

On Wednesday, June 21,Indivisible MDI, Indivisible Peninsula, Indivisible Waldo, Indivisible Central Maine, Suit Up Maine – An Indivisible Action Network, and other resistance groups and leaders coordinated visits and rallies at all five of Susan Collins’s offices in Maine, earning a shout-out from the national Indivisible team and even coverage on the Rachel Maddow show.

AND AROUND THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD:

A bipartisan group of over 75 (and growing) former employees of the Environmental Protection Agency has formed theEnvironmental Protection Network to help fight against the proposed cuts to the EPA. The scientists, lawyers, economists, and engineers held a press conference to announce their intent to serve as a resource to activists and journalists about how the cuts will impact the EPA’s projects. They will help them to craft effective Freedom of Information Act requests and generally guide others to through the administrative workings of the EPA to bring to light what is happening there.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appealsstruck down Muslim Ban 2.0. The court based its decision on a different argument than the Richmond court’s decision, arguing that the president had exceeded the authority granted to him by Congress to make immigration policy because presidents still face statutory and constitutional boundaries in any immigration policies, and he had shown no national security threat would be addressed by this ban and no evidence that present vetting is inadequate.

Afederal judge ruled that permits issued in the first days of the new administration, allowing the Dakota Access pipeline to cross the Missouri River just upstream from Standing Rock Reservation, violated the law by not adequately considering the environmental and community impact of the pipeline. The court is seeking additional information to determine whether the pipeline should be shut off.

A former Tennessee Valley Authority engineer and congressional candidate who was soliciting people to attack a Muslim community wassentenced to 20 years in prison.

In France, Marine LePen’s extreme right National Front party islosing support, both in turnout at events and in recent elections for the legislature, where the party lost ground. This may signal a decline in the populist appeal in France and beyond.

Federal Election Commission data shows that525 new Democrats have filed to run for elections in the 2018 midterms, up 73% from this point in the last midterm election cycle.

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New Yorkgranted a pardon to Carlos Cardona for a 1990 nonviolent drug conviction, his only legal trouble, that the federal government is using as its reason to deport him. Cardona worked for four months at Ground Zero and has suffered health problems from that. He is married to an American citizen and has a 19-year-old daughter. Since there is now no conviction on his record, Cuomo hopes this pardon helps Cardona’s legal case for staying.

A judge in Detroitblocked the immediate deportation of more than 100 Iraqi nationals, many of whom have been in the country for decades, who were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this month. The judge agreed with theACLU’s argument that they must have the chance to argue their case that returning to Iraq would endanger their lives.

TheEnvironmental Voter Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit that identifies environmentalists who do not vote in order to urge them to the polls, tracked a 12.1% higher turnout rate among voters they had targeted, compared to a control group, after just one year.

In all four of the recent special congressional elections,Democrats significantly outperformed their historic rates in these deep red districts, a trend that will flip many districts around the country if it continues. Races that would never have been competitive in the past now are.

LATE MAY THROUGH JUNE 11, 2017

First, the good news on results related to our C2A (call to action) items:

Mainewill not be joining the ALEC-sponsored move for a constitutional convention. The Maine House voted 86-56 not to join the call for one (HP 987). See our C2Ahere.

The legislature overrode a LePage veto to support the highly popular bill (LD 56) that would extend the state’s successful bottle deposit program to single-serving liquor bottles called nips, a major cause of litter in Maine. See our C2Ahere.

LD 1370, which would have allowed loaded, concealed weapons on Maine’s public university campuses, failed. Read our C2A on thishere.

LD 1262, which would have stymied wind power development on Monhegan Island, has been defeated. See our C2Ahere.

LD 1108, to restore public nursing staffing, passed both houses of the legislature. See our C2Ahere.

Victories and good news from around the country and the world

Illinois became the latest state topass a bill that will automatically register eligible voters when they visit a number of state offices, such as when they obtain a driver’s license. The governor vetoed this the last time the legislature attempted it, but this time the bill hasoverwhelming bipartisan support in the legislature, strong enough to override a veto.

Due to language that Congress included in the omnibus spending bill in late April, the president is now constrained from exercising sweeping executive powers inseveral important ways.

Maryland became the first state toenact a law to protect consumers from price hikes and price fixing by pharmaceutical companies.

A federal judge in Montanaoverturned approvals that federal agencies had granted for a massive industrial mining operation adjacent to Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, which contains some of the purest water in the United States, as well as the delicate habitat of bull trout and grizzly bears.

In California’s Oakland Unified School District, a group of parents organized several years ago to get morelocally grown produce into the school cafeterias. A recent study found that in a two-year period, the district reduced its carbon footprint by 14%, its water use by 6%, and its food budget by 1%, in addition to serving healthier meals to about 48,000 kids in over 100 schools. And the kids like the food.

United to Protect Democracy hasfiled suit in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to force the National Security Agency to release the contemporaneous memo that, according to the Washington Post, was written by Admiral Michael Rogers, Director of the NSA, to document the conversation in which Trump asked him to publicly deny that evidence of collusion with Russia exists. The group, which had already filed a Freedom of Information Act request in April for any National Security Agency documents related to efforts by Trump to interfere with the investigation, is also suing for the release of any other relevant documents and has submitted a Freedom of Information Act to the National Intelligence Agency for similar documents.

On the 6th day of Ramadan, about 100 Muslim activistsgathered outside Trump Tower in New York to pray before breaking their fast as a way of protesting the real estate developer’s anti-Muslim speech and policies. Jewish supporters formed a protective barrier around them as they prayed.

The Supreme Courtupheld a lower court ruling from last August that 28 state legislative districts in North Carolina were racially gerrymandered and will need to be redrawn, although it struck down the lower court’s order for special elections. (Yes, this is another ruling related to voting rights in North Carolina, not a duplicate from items on the last Victories and Good News list.)

India, the world’s second most populous country, hascancelled plans to build giant coal plants and will be investing in solar instead. Because the cost of solar energy is now lower than that of coal.

Between March and May, Breitbart experienced a90% drop in advertising due to the persistence ofSleeping Giants resisters.

In Fairfield, Connecticut, Democrat Kevin Kileywon a special election for a selectboard seat, flipping the selectboard. Local elections matter.

The Republican-held legislature delivered Kansas governor Sam Brownback a major defeat byoverriding his veto on their legislation toend some of his tax cuts, which have been disastrous for the state. For years, Republicans nationwide have been pointing to Kansas as an exemplary state for its tax cuts, sothis development is being hailed as a blow to the tax cut mentality.

Some of the states with thefastest growth in renewable energy production are red states.

Faced with a lawsuit from theNatural Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Protection Agencyreinstated a regulation protecting the public from mercury discarded by dental offices. The rule had been withdrawn on Jan. 20, 2017, as one of the first regulations targeted under the new administration, about a month after it was originally issued.

Under the leadership of Michael Bloomberg, a growing group of cities, states, universities, and businesses have pledged to honor the Paris Climate Accord and areseeking official signatory status with the United Nations. Michael Bloomberg has alsopledged $15 million to help replace the lost contribution to these efforts that the United States was to make.

In about two dozen cities, protesters at anti-Muslim rallies called by ACT for America, whichSouthern Poverty Law Center considers a hate group, were vastlyoutnumbered by those who turned out to oppose them.

LATE APRIL THROUGH MAY 26, 2017

Note: Suit Up Maine is going to make this a regularly produced feature, and future “issues” will include hyperlinks to all the sources. This list was well under way before the admin team realized that would be a good idea (oops), so we offer this one, for now, without the sourcing. But Google is your friend (provided we retainnet neutrality — see our C2A on that) if you would like any additional info about these. With apologies for any persisters or successes inadvertently omitted, we hope this round-up cheers and fortifies you.First the victories on items that were on Suit Up Maine’s weekly C2A lists. (We expect this list to grow as Maine’s legislature takes more votes in the coming weeks.)

Both houses of the Maine legislature passed, by numbers the Natural Resources Council of Maine called “overwhelming,” LD 820, which mandates some important environmental protections against the destruction caused by mining in the state. Although it does not go as far as many would like, it does have the advantage of being more likely to overcome a veto by the governor than stronger proposals would have been.

The committee voted 12-0 “ought not to pass” on LD 1505 (Read our C2A). This was a proposal by LePage to undermine the authority of cities to regulate the use of pesticides. Typically, such a vote is a death knell for a bill.

Both houses of the Maine legislature passed LD 1237 (Read our C2A), requiring insurance providers to cover up to 12 months of birth control at a time. It passed with a margin that should make it veto-proof.

Due to a united front from Congressional Democrats, who were joined by some concerned Republicans, and a whole lot of pressure from constituents (i.e. US), the stop-gap budget to keep the government running through September included not one of Trump’s major priorities. The wall did not get any funding, and Congress preserved funds for scientific research, the EPA, some social services, and the arts and humanities that Trump had wanted to cut.

Suit Up members also joined in the national pressure to appoint a special counsel (Read our C2A), and Maine Attorney General Janet Mills was one of 20+ state AGs who signed a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein requesting this, too. Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a well respected former FBI Director, as a special counsel to investigate potential connections between the Trump team and Russia. He has a broad mandate to pursue any possible criminal issues that may emerge in that investigation.

On other matters across the country and the world:

Exxon Mobile lost an appeal to keep records held by auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers out of the hands of investigators working under New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Exxon is headquartered in Texas, which protects auditor-client communications in a way similar to attorney-client privilege. But the appeals court ruled that New York’s law applies. The investigation by Schneiderman’s office concerns potential financial fraud – whether Exxon deceived shareholders and the public about climate change risks.

The Fourth Circuit Court upheld the lower court’s block on Trump’s second Muslim travel ban. This is significant not only because the Fourth Circuit is one of the more conservative appeals courts, but because of the strong language in the court decision.

Fox News broadcaster Sean Hannity is losing advertisers after pushing a shameless conspiracy theory about the killing of a former Democratic National Committee staffer.

Denver passed a surprisingly simple law that will help protect legal, documented immigrants from deportation. The federal policy holds that any non-citizen (including green card holders and people here on student or work visas) is subject to deportation if they are found guilty of a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 365 days or more, whether or not they actually get that sentence. Denver changed its maximum sentence for petty offenses (trespassing, etc.) to less than 365 days, so these people will now be off the federal government’s radar screen.

The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a Fourth Circuit Court’s ruling against some of the nation’s most horrific voter obstruction efforts. Republican legislators in North Carolina were seeking to reinstate voting laws that the appeals court had condemned as targeting black voters “with almost surgical precision.”

In a separate case, the Supreme Court not only struck down as unconstitutional the districting lines in two of that state’s districts, but even included in the decision language that calls into question the standard Republican argument in these cases. Republicans argue that the motivation for the districting is partisan (to ensure more Republican seats), not to diminish the vote of black voters. The decision, written by Justice Kagan, says that when the two results are so linked together, the argument based on partisan goals is questionable. Legal experts are saying this opens the way for more successful challenges to these voter obstruction tactics in other districts, especially in the South.

French voters rejected the far-right Marine LePen as prime minister, making this the third European country to say no to right-wing, anti-immigrant, fascist-leaning candidates in recent elections (joining Austria and the Netherlands).

Iranian voters, with very high turnout, not only soundly defeated a religious hard-liner, electing the more moderate President Hassan Rouhani, but also put the entire 21-member city council of Tehran in the hands of moderate reformers. And moderates and independents now oversee 18 of the country’s 20 largest cities, which will diminish the influence of the hard-liners. Iranians also elected 415 women to city and village councils.

Within 24 hours after the House passed its health care repeal bill, ActBlue, Swing Left, Daily Kos, and Crooked Media raised an astonishing $1,650,000 to support the elections of Democratic challengers in vulnerable Republican House districts. The money will be held in escrow until there is a nominee. (The money continued to come in after that initial 24 hours, but I can’t find more recent totals than that.)

Surprising many observers, the Senate voted to leave intact an Obama-era regulation of the release of methane gas from oil and gas wells on public land. Susan Collins was one of three Republicans who crossed party lines defeat efforts to gut this rule. (Angus King also voted against it.)

Sally Yates testified about the Flynn Affair before Congress and skillfully smacked down Ted Cruz by citing the law, becoming a twitter sensation.

As part of a National Black Mamas Bail Out Day, Color of Change, Black Lives Matter, and other groups raised over a half million dollars to provide bail so that women in prison awaiting trial could be home for Mother’s Day. They raised enough to provide bail for at least 50 women in 18 cities. These are women who would have awaited trial at home if they had had more money.

A federal judge ruled that Houston’s cash bail system is against the Constitution because it disadvantages the poor.

Connecticut became the 8th state to ban conversion therapy.

Indivisible folks in Lincoln, Nebraska decided to target the city council as their local action focus, and they flipped the council in a sweep for the Democrats.

There have been grand juries and subpoenas issued in the probe of the Trump team’s election activities. So far the ones we know about relate to Carter Page, Paul Manafort, and Michael Flynn. In Flynn’s case, when he took the 5th and refused to produce documents subpoenaed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, the committee issued a subpoena to his company instead. Companies can’t take the 5th. Jared Kushner is now a focus of the investigation, as well.

One of four companies contracted (following a court order) to replace more than 18,000 corroded lead pipes in Flint, Michigan is WT Stevens Construction, which is owned by black women.

TWO state house positions have flipped. In a special election held after a Republican representative took another position, Christine Pellegrino, an elementary school reading teacher and Bernie delegate to the Democratic convention last year, defeated a Republican rival in New York’s District 9 for a seat in the New York Assembly. This deep red district went to Trump in 2016 (60-37). In New Hampshire, Democrat Edie DesMarais took a Republican seat in the State House, representing the 6th District. Trump won 51-44 last fall in that district. No Democrat has ever held this seat before.

In the struggling steel town of Monessen, Pennsylvania, the Democratic mayor who became a news sensation by backing Trump during the campaign lost to Democratic challenger Matt Shorraw, a 26-year old high school band director. The local Democrats took the unusual step of supporting Shorraw’s candidacy during the primary.

In Jackson, Mississippi, Chokwe Antar Lumumba defeated the incumbent mayor on a platform that emphasized investment in education and crime reduction through community engagement.

Even in the discouraging Montana special election, Rob Quist came within 6 points of winning in a district that Trump won by 20 points in November. In a large majority of special elections around the country since then, even where Democrats have not won, the margins have moved dramatically. This bodes well for future elections, since many districts were much closer than a 20-point spread and could flip easily with the gains in Democratic margins that have been happening.

For the first time in 17 years, Fox News lagged in the ratings for one week, behind both MSNBC and CNN, in the 25-54 demographic.

According to polling from 538, the number of Americans who “strongly approve” of Trump has fallen by almost a third from February, to 21% or 22%, and voters who “strongly disapprove” now outnumber them by about 2 to 1.

On May 13, California set a new record, producing 67% of the state’s power that day from renewables.

State and local prosecutors are pushing back against Sessions’s call for mandatory minimum sentences. Even though they are not bound by these sentencing guidelines because they are not federal prosecutors, they are signing statements against the advisability of such policies and raising public awareness about their likely impact. Among the signers are the Manhattan district attorney and the Los Angeles city attorney.

In Chicago, thousands of protesters showed up in support of fair wages and union rights during the annual shareholder meeting of McDonald’s.

Taiwan became the first Asian country to recognize same-sex marriage.

At the University of Notre Dame, which has a tradition of having the president as the commencment speaker the first year of a president’s service, backlash from faculty and students caused them to break with this tradition and invite Mike Pence instead. Then students arranged for 500 rainbow flags to be flying from all over campus that weekend and staged a well-publicized, peaceful walk-out when Pence took the podium, stating that his views and actions were opposed to Catholic social teaching calling Christians to be on the side of the marginalized. In addition, the valedictorian’s speech praised a woman’s right to choose, decried the building of a border wall, and called for this generation to stand up to the scapegoating of Muslims.

Grove City College, a small, conservative Christian school in western Pennsylvania, saw unprecedented backlash from students and faculty to Pence as a commencement speaker. Students said that as Christians, they could not support someone who sows such hatred, violence, and divisiveness.

Nevada became the 19th state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. We now have half the states needed to ratify an amendment, although Congress would also have to vote to do that. This is a long-haul process, but it is moving forward.

April 15-21, 2017

Bill O’Reilly lost his job. SUM partnered with Sleeping Giants on aC2A for a Twitter campaign targeting the news show’s advertisers to protest his long history of sexual harassment. Efforts like these were credited with the network’s decision to fire the host of the most popular news program on cable. h/t to everyone who participated, and toKarin Leuthy for her work on the C2A.

Birth control bill receives a “ought to pass” vote. SUM joined Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund on aC2A to promote awareness of this bill and urge people to attend the public hearing held Wednesday. Thursday afternoon, the HHS committee voted 9-4 to send the bill to the House and Senate for a vote. h/t to everyone who attended the hearing and wrote or called committee members, and toSarah Davenport for her work on the C2A.

Standing-room only crowd shows support for undocumented immigrants.SUM joined efforts by Maine Equal Justice Partners, Maine People’s Alliance, and many other organizations to speak out against LD 366, a bill that would punish sanctuary cities and towns in Maine. The result: Standing-room only in the hearing and overflow rooms at the State House. h/t to all of you who attended the hearing and toKarin Leuthy for all her work on the C2A.

Successful Tax Day Marches. Thousands of people across the state took part in tax day rallies last weekend to push for the release of Trump’s tax returns. Bath,Bangor,Thomaston andPortland were among hundreds of cities and towns around the country that hosted a march. h/t toMarch Forth,Midcoast Maine Indivisible, Indivisible Sagadahoc and all the other groups across the state that organized marches.

Suit Up Maine is an all-volunteer grassroots group of Mainers who work to raise awareness of and advocate for policies and legislation that promote equity and equality in civil rights, social justice, health care, the environment, education, the economy, and other areas that affect the lives of all people. We are beholden to issues and action, not parties or politicians, and we aren’t engaged in fundraising. Suit Up Maine fosters collaboration among our state’s progressive groups and organizations to collectively connect, educate, and motivate Mainers to rise in non-violent resistance to a regressive agenda.